By: Barbara Zigah
As reported at 2:55 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Japanese Yen saw broad gains in Asian trading this morning, following the news of two hotel bomb blasts in Jakarta and on investor caution ahead of the release of more earnings reports from major U.S. banks suppressed investor risk appetite. The U.S. Dollar slipped to 93.66 Yen, a loss of .3%. Meanwhile the Euro lost .5%, trading at 132.27 Yen; it had slipped to 131.88 Yen moments after the news of the bombing but managed to recover slightly. The Australian Dollar also lost .5%, trading at $0.8000.
Moments after the bomb blast, the Indonesian Rupiah dropped 1% to trade at 10,230 IDR versus the U.S. Dollar; fortunately state-controlled banks in Indonesia were able to slow the decline by propping up the currency.
Analysts and investors continue to anxiously await the release of U.S. earnings reports and bank results, though it is expected that the news from Bank of America and Citigroup will not be as promising as the recently released results from Goldman Sachs. Most analysts expect to see weaker performance, as evidenced by J.P. Morgan’s recent report of increased losses in consumer credit. Combined, the reports will give credence to investors’ belief that the global economies still have a consider way to go.
Japanese Yen sees Broad Gains, IDR Declines following Indonesian Hotel Bombing
Barbara Zigah